The Pirate Legend
by Neonculr
Summary: Don't tell me I should be happy! How would you feel watching the one you love die right before your eyes, because you weren't strong enough to protect them? ...A legend you say? I'm no legend. I'm just someone who runs away. All because of one day, one person, and one feeling.
1. Chapter 1

"Haha! Yeah, that was a story to tell!" I said, knocking back a mug.

"Captain, you drink like a fish. You're gonna get sick." One of my crew members said.

"I'm only 23. I think I'm good." I looked at the mountain of empty mugs before me.

"Captain, scout report." My first mate said.

"What's up?" I said, knocking back another mug.

"Sirius crew just arrived at the port. Rika following behind."

"Aah, it's about time we run into them! You guys stay here, I'm gonna go and talk to my ol pals!" I said, getting off the barstool.

I headed out to the port, only to find Morgan talking to his crew. It looked like his ship had taken some damage.

"Morgan!" I yelled, heading towards him. I stopped in front of the crew, and they were all silent.

"...John?" Morgan whispered, shocked. Everybody was pale.

"What's with you guys? You look like you've seen a ghost!" I said, laughing.

"How are you here?" Doc asked.

"What are you all talkin about?" I asked, confused.

"You died last week, when we were fighting those bandits..." Morgan said.

My eyes widened as I suddenly remembered.

Morgan and I were fighting alongside each other, defeating enemies one by one. We had thought they were all defeated, but suddenly a sword went straight through me. One of the enemies stabbed me just before he died. It all happened in slow motion. I looked at the sword sticking out of my stomach, and then looked up at Morgan's terrified face. I gave him a soft smile, and then fell over.

"I didn't die." I said, leaning against a barrel with my arms crossed.

"What?" Morgan asked, shocked.

"I fell over and passed out, but I woke up. I woke up in a white room wrapped in bandages." I put my hand over the wound that was still there. "I had no clue what was going on or where I was, but do you want to know the strangest part? The doctor that saved me was my father."

"Your father!? But I thought-" Morgan exclaimed.

"He didn't know I was his son. He still doesn't know. I bet he's forgotten about me by now. But yeah, I never died. Thanks a lot for just leaving me there. That was really nice of you." I had almost said daughter. Yes, I'm a woman, and John is just a cover name.

"Geez John, you really are indestructible." Thomas said.

"Thomas! Nice see ya again!" I said, pulling him in a headlock and giving him a playful noogie.

He laughed and I let him go.

"Morgan, ya got yerself a mighty fine crew here. All of ya are gonna accomplish great things." I said, looking at all of them. Morgan, with his big smile and hardy laugh. Eduardo, with his cold face and attitude. Doc, with his gentle smile. Nathan, the quiet and intimidating one. Russell, with his overconfidence and impatience. And Thomas, a very different rookie. Full of kindness and curiosity.

"Pfft, we already knew that." Russell said. "We're the best pirate crew in the entire world!" He exclaimed.

Suddenly the rest of the crew went pale as I squinted my eyes. I moved towards Russell, and looked him in the eyes. I was only slightly taller than him, thank god he's 17.

"You dare say that in front of another captain? You dare say that in front of a legendary captain? You dare say that in front of me?" I said.

"Umm..." Russell was visibly scared.

I began to circle around him, looking down on his slouching figure. I began to laugh and slapped him on the back. "You got guts, I'll tell ya that. C'mon, we should get back to the bar!" I said, turning and walking to the bar.

The Sirius crew looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders, and then Morgan said, "Men, to the bar!"

They came in after me and I sat down at the barstool, my tower of mugs still there. I ordered a round for everyone and knocked back the glass.

A few hours later the Sirius crew couldn't take much more alcohol. Thomas was flat out smashed, and so was Russell. The rest of the crew was drunk.

My amount of alcohol downed had tripled and I wasn't even tipsy. I was perfectly fine. My crew was clearly wasted.

Alan joined us sometime in the mix and drank a lot of liquor. I wasn't sure if he was drunk or just being normal. Fuzzy was passed out over a table with three empty kegs. Tom and Colon were just as smashed as Thomas and Russell.

I turned to Morgan, who seemed a little tipsy. He tried to catch up to me. I drank about 12 kegs currently, and Morgan drank about 7. These men are weak!

"You up for a drinking contest Morgan?" I asked, downing another mug.

"I will not lose to you!" He declared.

"Give us a round of Super Pirate Killer." I said to the barista.

"Are you crazy!?" Morgan exclaimed.

"Yer out of yer mind..." Nathan said.

The barista plopped a bottle on the counter and I poured ten shot glasses each.

"Ready Morgan?" I asked.

"Ready!" He said, taking a shot glass.

We both knocked one back, and the whole bar was focused on us. Then, we took a second, third, fourth...

"You ok Morgan? You don't look so well." I said.

"I will not lose!" He yelled.

Then we knocked back a fifth, sixth, seventh...

Morgan fell out of his chair and passed out. The Sirius crew gasped and so did the Rika. My crew looked like they were expecting me to be dead. I took the last of my shots and the rest of Morgan's.

"Come on guys; let's get ya back to yer ship." I said, picking up Morgan and throwing him over my shoulder.

"How did ya take 13 shots of Super Pirate Killer and 12 kegs of alcohol and not die from alcohol poisoning?" Doc asked me after sobering up a little. The Sirius crew hadn't started drinking since our contest, so most of them were okay.

"Dunno. I'm resistant to poison too." I said. I handed Morgan over to them and headed back to my ship, where my crew was waiting.

The next morning I woke up to find my crew fast asleep. Today is the day. Today was the day for my new beginning. I took off my overcoat and laid it on a table. I kept my sword, hat, and gun. Then, I began to fill out the letter.

'Dear Endeavor crew,

I am sorry to say I will no longer be your captain. It's no use trying to look for me, because even if you find me, you will not recognize me. It is time for me to start a new beginning. I assume you knew this was coming. I will miss my times on the Endeavor, but I must leave now before I become too attached to the pirate life. I trust that you will look after the Endeavor for me. Kuzon, you're captain now. Goodbye.

Sincerely, Captain.'

Then, I ran off the ship and disappeared into the port.

So, what do I do now? Well, first I have to remember how to be a girl. I hadn't been a girl since I was 17. Well, I need a dress. NO! Okay, what do girls have besides dresses? ...I have boobs and long hair. I've got the look down. Now I just need to act like a girl. Well, I have seduced the enemy in dire situations, so I guess some of my womanliness is there.

I had been walking blindly and found myself in the bad side of this port. I'm probably gonna encounter some creeps so I should get outta-

"I haven't seen you around before." a voice said from behind me.

I kept walking, ignoring the voice completely. Suddenly footsteps sounded behind me. I kept my pace. The footsteps got faster, and so did mine. The person lunged at me and grabbed my arm. I used my free arm to punch them in the face. My right hook struck the person, but my quick turnaround made my wound hurt. I cringed in pain and placed my hand over the wound. Before the man could get up I ran towards the town square. Upon reaching it, two more men had followed me. I was flipping and dodging and kicking with punches flying all over the place. I was about to dodge one of the men's punches, but the other one hit my stomach and caused my wound to open. I forced down a scream as I punched the two men and they fell over. Just then five more men showed up and my wound began bleeding. I tried to fight, but I just couldn't do it. I was getting punched endlessly and I could feel bones breaking. Along with cuts and bruises everywhere.

Morgan appeared out of nowhere and started fighting the men along with the rest of his crew. I fell to my knees and looked at my hand. It was covered in blood from my wound. I began to feel lightheaded, and then the ground came at me with rapid speed. Before I hit it, all went black.

I woke up to see my eyelids. It took me a minute to remember what happened, and when I did I didn't believe it. I moved to jump out of bed but an excruciating pain came from my lower stomach. I gasped a little and laid back down, when I heard a terrifyingly familiar voice.

"You're awake." Doc said.

I sat up despite the pain as thoughts whirred in my head. I'm on Morgan's ship? What am I gonna do? How will I act? What do I say? Are we still at the port? How long have I been out? Is my crew okay? Wait, they're not my crew anymore.

"Are you okay?" Doc asked. I was so lost in thought I didn't realize he had come to the bedside.

"I don't know..." I replied.

"I bet you're confused." he said.

"Much more than that..." I said, thinking. More thoughts filled my head, only making me more confused and worried. How is this going to affect me? If I run away at the next port will they look for me? If the crew overreacts will I be able to fend them off? What if I'm stuck on the Sirius?

"You must be thirsty. Here, have some water." Doc said, handing me a glass of water.

Just then Thomas ran through the door. "Doc, Captain just called an emergency meeting. Captain John has gone missing!"

At the mention of my name I started choking. I set the water down and gripped my wound in pain.

"Okay. Tell him I'll be right there." Doc said. Thomas disappeared through the doorway and Doc turned to me. "You alright?" he asked.

"Y-yeah. I'm okay."

"I'll be back after the meeting." With that, Doc left.

I heard a commotion in the room next to me and pressed my ear against the door. I could hear the meeting!

"All of you already know that John is missing. I've talked to his crew and they gave me a letter he wrote before he disappeared."

I heard the sound of parchment and questions popped up left and right. After a moment of silence, Morgan spoke up.

"The worst part is the navy declared war on pirates. Without John, we've lost a great military mind."

"The navy..." I whispered. I moved away from the wall and began thinking. They only think they've lost a military mind.

I found some paper and began taking notes about this ship, then about the Endeavor. I listed the strengths and weaknesses of the Sirius crew and my crew. Then I began to sketch blueprints of the main navy ship. Believe it or not, I was once commander of the navy, but I quit and became a pirate. They replaced me with some young rookie. I know every base and ship like the back of my hand. Hard to believe, considering I became a pirate at 19. I was sort of a double agent until I was 21. Then I started gaining fame as a pirate. And now, here I am two years later.

I jotted down every piece of information that might be useful. I heard someone coming, and hid the paper under my pillow.


	2. Chapter 2

It's been about a week since the meeting and Doc said I was strong enough to walk around. I walked straight to the bow and looked out at the ocean. I studied the ship inside and out, every nook and cranny accounted for. I added details to my earlier notes, and since I had accounted anything possibly useful, I had a stack of paper. I told Doc I needed paper to write, and usually I wouldn't be lying. He thought I was writing my thoughts or whatever, but I was really jotting down notes and pondering strategies.

"Excuse me, miss?" I heard Thomas say behind me.

"What?" I asked, writing down my estimated numbers.

"Captain wants to see you." He said.

I wrote down the last zero and said, "Okay."

He led me to Morgan's quarters and there I saw him drinking some liquor.

"You wanted to see me?" I said after Thomas closed the door. I hid the papers behind my back, knowing he would probably ask about them.

"Yes, I needed to talk to you. Take a seat." He said.

I looked around and saw two chairs. The one next to me was the chair he never let anyone sit in, his favorite chair, so I decided not to sit there. Instead I sat down on the farther away and uncomfortable chair.

"You know, John always went straight away to that chair, just like you did."

"O-oh really?"

"Yeah, that guy knew me like a brother."

"So, um... You wanted to talk to me?"

"Oh, yeah. We'll be fighting a fierce battle soon, so we're going to drop you off at a port. So, tell us what port we should drop you off at."

My eyes grew wide. I can be dropped off at port? But what about the navy? Could I get on another ship and fight? No, that wouldn't be likely. As of right now, I belong in the sea. An idea popped in my head, and I went for it.

"Pirate King Morgan, I challenge you to a duel." I said, standing up.

He looked amused.

"Would the mighty Pirate King refuse a duel?" I asked, eyeing him.

"Normally I would refuse because you're a woman... But you seem determined. Alright, we shall have the duel as soon as we reach an inhabited island. Also, we don't have a spare room for you. You'll have to share with someone." He said with a smirk on his face.

"...What? WHAT!? Are you kidding me?" I exclaimed.

"I wish I was. So, who are you gonna share a room with?" He asked.

"...I don't care." I said, sinking back into my chair.

"Huh?"

"I don't care. Choose whoever I'm staying with."

"Alright then! You'll stay with Nathan. Come on, let's go and make the announcements to the crew."

We headed to the deck and the crew stood before us.

"Men, I have two announcements. One, she is staying with Nathan. Two, Eduardo, I need you to take us to a deserted island. The woman has challenged me to a duel."

"WHAT!?" The crew exclaimed.

"But Captain, you know that-" Thomas tried to say.

"She was very insistent. Eduardo, if you would."

"Aye." Eduardo said, heading towards the steering wheel.

"Nathan, show her to your room."

"Aye." Nathan heeded for his room, and I followed him.

"Yer crazy fer challenging Captain." He said.

"Oh yeah? And why's that?" I asked.

"Cuz only Captain John could fight him evenly."

"Really..."

We reached his room and he opened the door. I went in and put my stack of papers down in the corner, along with my sword and gun. I put my hat on top of my gun, and Nathan spoke up.

"Where'd ya get all that?" Nathan asked.

"I found it all in the port. It was lying on the ground in an alley and it looked like it had been there for awhile. A garbage collector was about to take it, so I took it instead." I knew if I told the truth I would give myself away.

"Oh..." Nathan said, sounding downhearted.

"I'm going to go and practice." I said, taking my sword. "Touch my stuff and I will cut you in half. Don't read my papers, don't move anything." I have him a glare, and then put my hat over the papers. Then, I went out to the bow and began practicing. I visualized myself in battle, with twenty enemies attacking at once. Not the navy, they were too easy to beat. I'm talking the baddest of the bad pirates, not as good as the Sirius, but still really good fighters. My goal wasn't to kill them; my goal was to disarm them. I dodged attacks and swung my sword, blocking attacks and disarming weapons. With only two enemies left, the unexpected happened. A huge man, the Captain, showed up and joined the fight. Swords collided, attacks were dodged and blocked, and finally, the giant sword flew into the air and landed behind me.

I faded back to reality as I put my sword away. I wiped my brow and caught my breath, feeling tired from the training. My vivid imagination always helped me train, especially because my opponents weren't easy to beat.

I looked up and saw the sun had set. 'How long was I out here? Well, I better get some sleep.' I opened the door to Nathan's room to see him stretched out on the floor. I looked over at my stuff. Nothing out of place.

It's a nice gesture, but I don't need a bed. I stepped over him and sat in a corner next to my stuff. I laid my sword down and put my head against the wall, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

I dreamt of the life I left behind, my past. Well, part of my past. I dreamt about my life before the Navy, before being a pirate. My life before my, umm... second new beginning. It was peaceful until someone's face showed up and he whispered my name. "Jo..."

I gasped and woke up. It was the one face that drove me to leave my new life. The face that made me start my second new beginning. Why did he appear? Why did I dream about my past in the first place? I felt the tears start to come when I heard a voice.

"Hey."

I looked up and saw a stern looking Nathan staring down at me. "Why are ya on the floor?" He noticed I was about to cry and looked surprised.

Before he could say anything I got up and pushed past him. I ran out of the room to the bow and looked out at the ocean. The tears began to fall down my face and I muttered his name for the first time in four years.

"Kenishi..."

I began to sob as tears streamed down my face and fell into the ocean below. I finally fell to my knees and buried my face in my arms. "Kenishi... I'm sorry... *sob* I'm sorry..." I then began bawling like a child. "Kenishi *sniff* I-I'm sorry! It's all *sob* my fault! I'm sorry..."

"Hey, you." Russell said from behind me.

I turned my head towards him, and he said, "We'll be at the island in a few minutes." Then, he noticed my tears. "Are ya okay?" He asked.

I stood up and said, "I'm fine." I pushed passed him and went to Nathan's room. I picked up my sword and walked off of the ship onto the beach.

It was a few minutes before Morgan was ready, so I took the time to stretch. Thanks to Doc's excellent medical skills, my wound was almost completely healed. It didn't ever hurt anymore.

I tried to force myself not to think about Kenishi, but he was at the back of my mind. I felt tears sting my eyes, but I refused to let them fall.

Just then Morgan came out and we got ready to duel. I tried to calm myself down, but memories kept flooding my mind and refused to stop.

"What are the terms?" Morgan asked.

"Disarming." I replied.

"So what happens if I win?" He asked.

"If you win I will exit the ship at the next port and disappear forever. But if I win, I want to be Captain of the Sirius until the war with the Navy is over."

The crew gasped, and were about to protest until Morgan let out a hardy laugh. "I like yer attitude! Alright, I accept your terms. I'll go easy on ya, so ya don't hurt yerself." Morgan said, pulling out his sword.

I wiped the stinging tears from my eyes and forced Kenishi to the back of my mind. "Don't go easy on me. If I'm going to win I'll win fair and square." I said, arming myself.

Morgan and I began to duel, swords slashing and clashing over and over again. The crew held their breath as we constantly tried to one-up the other. Morgan went easy on me at first, but then realized I was a worthy opponent. As we dueled I faded from reality and began reliving the moment that I tried so desperately to forget. I was fighting alongside him, defeating bandits that tried to rob him. I was 16, but still skilled with a sword. The bandits and I clashed swords, when a sickening sound filled my ears. I turned my head towards Kenishi only to find his sword flying through the air and the enemy's sword straight through his chest. The enemy pulled the sword out of his body and slashed it through his neck, sending his head to the ground as his body landed with a thud against the ground.

Morgan and I had locked blades and I felt the tears slide down my face as I squeezed my eyes shut. I opened them once more, only to find the leader of the bandits, Kenishi's murderer with his blade locked with mine. With a sudden burst of strength I slashed at him with a barrage of attacks, sending him back farther and farther. With a trick of the sword I sent his flying through the air, and I caught it in my hand. I glared at him, hate and anger filling my core. He fell back onto the ground, and I pointed my swords at him. I snarled as I said, "After all these years... All the pain... All the tears and anger, I have you right where I want you. Defenseless on the ground, your life at my disposal. Have fun rotting in hell."

I snapped back to reality when I heard Eduardo load his gun. I saw Morgan lying in the sand with a look of sheer terror on his face. My vision was clouded with tears as I felt them spilling down my face. The crew was behind me, armed and ready to attack.

I growled in frustration and threw the swords onto the sand beside Morgan. I bolted through the trees, running as fast as I could just to get away. I ran and ran, wanting to escape my thoughts, escape the hell that I longed to forget. I wanted to forget the look he had on his face before he was beheaded. I want to forget that day, I want to forget my past, but mostly I want to forget Kenishi and the love I felt for him.

I stopped running only to find myself completely lost. I wiped the tears from my face and climbed the closest tree. The only thing I liked about land was the trees. I always felt at home in the sea or in a tree.

I laid down on one of the branches and started reliving my past. The first day I met Kenishi, the day I taught him how to make a flower crown. The day I was getting picked on and he stood up for me. The day he taught me how to dance. The thing I regret most was never telling him. I had never told him how I felt. It's been eating away at me for the last 7 years, filling me with regret and wonder. Would it have been different if I told him? For the first time in a long time I remembered what happened after that day. I remembered defeating all the bandits in a fit of rage, watching them run away clutching their wounds. I remember touching the head on the ground, not believing it was real. Remembering when my parents found me covered in blood with a tear streaked face. I remembered telling them the story and their shocked faces. I remembered running away and joining the navy, thinking it could be a new beginning. I remembered how I became a pirate, dog fighting my way to the top of both ladders. I had began to think about what life would have been like if I told Kenishi how I felt, and next thing I knew, I was asleep.


End file.
